The imprisonment of Russell Brand and allegations against David Walliams have prompted scrutiny of a culture that encouraged male transgression

In a 2008 episode of BBC Two’s comedy panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks, the choreographer Arlene Phillips – the only woman on the programme – was told by the host Simon Amstell: “You look like you run a good whore house.” In reply, Phillips told a story with what appeared to be faux sincerity: while working with big stars, she explained, she would sometimes be asked to find dancers with “very special abilities” who might want to party after filming. Another panellist, the TV presenter Dermot O’Leary, mimed picking up a phone and said: “When you’re dancing tonight, do you mind having sex afterwards?” Everyone laughed.

Russell Brand’s imprisonment for rape and sexual assault this week, and allegations of sexual misconduct against the comedian and children’s author David Walliams have prompted scrutiny not only of the men involved, but of those who appeared to enable them. The chatshow host Jonathan Ross has apologised for a 2004 joke, in which he described the 15-year-old British comedy awards as being “like most 15-year-olds: drunk, unpredictable and probably going home with David Walliams”. The latter has denied the allegations made against him in reporting by the Guardian and ITV News, but is now the focus of an investigation by the Met police on separate sexual misconduct claims.

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We’ve unboxed, nibbled and played with hundreds of gifts to find the perfect present for everyone – from cheery stocking fillers and feelgood treats to Jude Bellingham’s favourite game

Filled with dread about Christmas shopping? Luckily for you, we’ve had a head start and spent the whole year playing, tasting, sipping, sniffing and putting hundreds of items to the test to help you find the best Christmas gifts for everyone on your list.

We’ve recruited experts, from three-year-old toy testers to gardening gurus, beauty connoisseurs to our own team here on the Filter, to bring you tried-and-tested recommendations we know will bring joy this Christmas and beyond. From bloody marys and sleep masks to mushroom-growing kits and taste-test-winning biscuits, here are 369 carefully curated gift ideas to suit even the fussiest recipients. Merry Christmas!

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A rich, comforting plateful of sweet, crunchy hispi topped with a cheesy cream – like a bowl of pasta, only without the carbs

This is a fun recipe that takes advantage of the hispi cabbage’s sweet nature and pliant structure. You can give it a really hard blast of heat, and it will crisp, caramelise and smoke, but still retain a lot of its easy freshness and bright crunch; it will also take on a pleasing, slightly slippery texture, like buttered noodles. This plate has the satisfaction of a hearty bowl of pasta without being nearly so enervating, and it works fantastically as a side dish, too, either as a companion to toasted whole grains or some grilled mushrooms.

Jackson Boxer is chef/owner of Brunswick House, Vesper and Dove, all in London, and culinary director of Cowley Manor near Cheltenham and the Henrietta in London

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The arguments have been endless and they are fatuous. Wales and Scotland stopped conflating national identity with race: why can’t England?

In 2021, the then shadow justice secretary, David Lammy, asserted his Englishness on the Saturday LBC programme he hosted, only for a caller named Jean to insist that his African-Caribbean heritage disqualified him. He could be British, she maintained, but “never be English”. Jean defended Englishness as though it were a possession she would never surrender to the country’s Black populace. Lammy’s entreaties to recognise it as a civic identity were ignored, as Jean attempted to demarcate its racial boundary live, on air.

After cross-party condemnation of Jean’s nativist screed, Lammy would go on to appeal for census options that would allow him, his children and other Black people building lives in England to identify as English, but the Office for National Statistics (ONS) stood firm. A spokesperson responded: “The evidence did not support a change to include Black English in England.” This was despite the ONS having recommended Black Welsh and Asian Welsh categories, with equivalent options available in Scotland. In Wales, the change followed criticism that census categories recognised Welsh identity among white respondents but not ethnic minorities; Scotland’s approach was informed by research and consultation showing that Scottishness was integral to the identities of many people from ethnic minority backgrounds.

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Lucy, 40, a general manager, meets Leon, 45, an operations manager at a food charity

What were you hoping for?
I’m a regular reader and have always wanted to be in the column, so mostly here for the vibes. Bumping into the love of my life would be nice, though …

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Woman who has lived in UK for 26 years refused indefinite leave to remain under Home Office’s new settlement rules

A blind Nigerian pensioner who has lived in the UK for 26 years has been told by the Home Office she can safely “go home” to India.

Comfort*, 67, arrived in the UK in 2000, and shortly after suddenly went blind due to acute glaucoma.

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Strikes with huge death tolls are an increasing occurrence as UAVs ‘bring the war to places that were once safe’

The first drone struck the busy transport hub near a market in Al-Dibab as hundreds of people gathered to board trucks to take them back to their homes.

Ten minutes later on the evening of 18 October, a second drone hit the same site in the town in West Kordofan state, Sudan. At least 139 people were killed.

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This week the Soil Association withdrew certification from organic salmon after 20 years. What went wrong?

The first haul of farmed salmon in Britain was a relatively modest 14 tonnes, produced off the west coast of Scotland near Fort William in 1971.

For Unilever, the vast multinational that pioneered salmon farming, it was a triumph after years of experimenting with how to cage fish, battle against diseases and cope with the wild weather. Unilever had spotted in the 1960s that farming salmon, which until then was caught wild and remained a relative luxury, would create a mass market, lower costs and provide steady profits. By 1976, it had expanded into three Scottish sites producing 116 tonnes of fish each year.

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Television’s most deadpan (and dense) documentarian casts her eye over cinema, while Cynthia Erivo dazzles in a sexual assault legal drama. Here’s the pick of the week’s culture, taken from the Guardian’s best-rated reviews

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I’m so tired of this illness, I wonder if an acting-led approach to faking wellness might help me recover

It is late morning on a Wednesday, and I’m sitting at the kitchen table collapsing in on myself, because I am ill. I feel dizzy, and feverish, and achy, and I have done for two days. I’m gently resting my damp forehead on the table when my wife walks in.

“Ugh,” I say.

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In 2016, Mariah Rief, then 19, thought she was going to a modelling job at a hotel. Once there, she was sex trafficked. She knows of 15 fellow victims who have since died by suicide or drug overdose – and is determined to stop it ever happening again

When people ask Mariah Rief about her experience as a survivor of sex trafficking, they tend to start with the Craigslist ad which led the then 19-year-old to a “modelling shoot” at the Hilton hotel in San Diego. For others, the story starts when Rief enters the lobby and meets Theodore Gyi, the “photographer”. Or after they’ve taken the elevator up to a room, Rief standing at the threshold, Gyi behind her blocking her exit – and just inside the door, the silhouette of a second man waiting.

Whenever she talks about it, and whatever the questions, Rief always braces herself for blame, because, to some, it makes no sense. “You get, ‘But why did she answer that ad?’ ‘Why did she walk inside?’ and, my favourite, ‘Where were her parents?’” says Rief. “If you live in an idyllic world, it’s hard to imagine how this could happen.” The true starting point is years earlier. Rief’s beginnings, her childhood, layers of trauma and chaos, fast-tracked her to that hotel room in November 2016, believing that finally, life might be giving her a break. “It’s painful to say it but I was truly the perfect victim,” she says. “I saw that job as an opportunity. When I arrived at that hotel, I thought I was so lucky.”

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After years of celebrity interviews, I have learned not to be fooled by the allure of fame. We never really know them – we know what they want us to know

As I sat in Southwark crown court, listening to the final day of Russell Brand’s trial, there was one subject that came up repeatedly, invoked as often by his defence as the prosecution. I don’t mean sex or coercion, but fame. It ran through every victim impact statement and loomed so large in the courtroom that it felt as if it was almost on trial itself.

I’m an entertainment journalist who has been covering celebrities for more than 20 years – as long as Brand has been one – and I have written about him at various stages of his career. But I went to Southwark crown court as a member of the public who wanted to see justice done. For the women he had hurt, for the ones who couldn’t get as far as the courtroom, and for all of us who came of age at a time when rape culture was so fast and furious that young women mistook it for a joke that we were in on. In the age of lads’ mags, sex felt cheapened, yet somehow we were the ones who ended up paying for this. So it was doubly strange to sit in court and feel somehow complicit in it - in how this media culture had encouraged Russell Brand.

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Prospect of partial return to Budapest by Central European University suggests confidence in Hungary’s future

A university that Viktor Orbán tried to chase out of Hungary is open to expanding its presence in Budapest, in a mark of confidence in the country’s democratic future.

Carsten Q Schneider, the interim president and rector of Central European University (CEU), said it was interested in increasing its programmes in Budapest, as long as this did not damage the student experience.

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Bolulu Hasan Usta is one of Turkey's most recognized dessert brands, known for its long-standing presence in traditional sweets, ice cream, and pastry culture. We worked on a full brand identity renewal for BHU, creating a more distinctive, contemporary, and scalable visual language while preserving the brand's familiar warmth and heritage. The project included brand strategy, logo refinement, monogram design, typography, color system, packaging design, menu visuals, store applications, signage direction, social media assets, and art direction. The new identity brings together tradition and modernity through a bold yet approachable system designed to work across packaging, retail environments, digital communication, and everyday customer touchpoints.

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

irwinm16 has added a photo to the pool:

I camped on Woody Island, near Esperance, Western Australia, for a few days last week - the main objective was bird observation and photography.
The island has no snakes or other large predators so the fear response in the resident bird population is somewhat lessened.
I had hoped to photograph this species. On my last morning on the island, I could hear a pair calling to each other and waited. Eventually one came down to check on the water supply in the bird bath.
I like the contrast between the man-made structure and such a striking bird.

ozipital has added a photo to the pool:

View of the swimming hole from the top of the falls at Bell Gorge along the Gibb River Road, Western Australia before the crowds arrived.